Chapter 44

Deidara reached over to interlace his fingers with Hinata's. They just parked the car and are on their way to meet Kankuro at his shop. It's located deep in the dangerous side of town, further than the shy girl has ever gone.

Blushing, the Hyuuga looked at her blonde friend with wide eyes, "What are you…?"

"If I don't make it obvious you're taken, guys might come up to you," he winked.

'Ah, he's trying to buffer any potential threats,' Hinata smiled amusedly to herself, 'I bet Hidan's so angry, wherever he is.'

The short-tempered, foul-mouthed man was shadowing them at a distance, remaining out of sight in case something goes awry. It gave his girlfriend enough peace of mind that she wasn't shaking in her hypothetical boots as Deidara held the door open to a dark, rundown weapon shop so she could enter first.

A wolf whistle immediately met her ears. She looked up to see a generally handsome guy with odd, purple face paint leaning over the sales counter to look her up and down.

Deidara tossed an arm around her waist, guiding her further inside while barking half-jokingly at the man, "Careful. The trouble you'll get in won't be worth it." Hinata gave him an incredulous look, to which he grinned mischievously and shrugged, "Hidan's a possessive guy."

"Hidan?" Kankuro looked confused for a moment before realization met his brown eyes, and he peered at the quiet girl with new eyes, "This is her?! You didn't say she'd be so…."

"I know, right? None of us can figure out how he managed it." Hinata subtly elbowed the blonde in the ribs and gave him a look that said she didn't want to argue with him in front of others but would if the subject didn't change. He rolled his eyes, "All work and no play."

Kankuro's attention quickly turned to the blue-eyed young man, "What brings you back here so soon? Did you miss me?" He wasn't trying to hide the fact that he was checking him out. Even someone as oblivious as Hinata could tell the sort of thoughts running through his head.

"Actually, I wondered if we could talk about what we discussed last time. Are one of your siblings in?"

The brunette's flirty smile fell, eyes dancing between the pair before him, "What else is there to say? Nothing's changed. I still don't have a name."

Deidara nodded at Hinata, lowering his voice, "I didn't bring her along as arm candy. Can we talk in your office?"

"..." The shopkeeper hesitated but sighed defeatedly before scaring Hinata and yelling, "Gaara! Get out here!"

A familiar man came out from the hallway behind the counter. His teal eyes were narrowed into a tired and hateful glare. That, plus his messy hair and wrinkly clothing, insinuated he'd either been napping or trying to.

'Oh, I forgot they were related!'

Gaara had been in one of her classes, though they never interacted. When his gaze turned onto her, and he lifted a brow, she blushed, "Hello. It's, um, nice to see you again."

His eyes narrowed further as he spoke bluntly, "What's someone like you doing, getting mixed up with people like us? Get out before it's too late."

Apparently, Hinata wasn't the only one taken aback by the remark because Deidara and Kankuro also stared with wide eyes. Neither said anything, either, so she had to respond lest things get tenser and awkward, "We're not so different, actually…."

All three men turned their baffled stares onto her, then. It went quiet momentarily before Kankuro suddenly lifted the counter bar so they could follow him down the hallway, "Ignore him, Sweetheart. He doesn't know how to talk to women yet, the poor, emo fool." The Hyuuga still regarded Gaara respectfully as they passed, cringing under the scrutiny of his unyielding observation.

There were many doors in the hallway, and they entered the room second to the last one. Inside was a rather normal office, though it was cluttered with overflowing filing cabinets and stacks of paperwork on the desk.

Kankuro haphazardly slid a pile off it so he could sit on its edge, "So what's up?"

Hinata pulled the small photos they'd printed for this task from her purse and handed them over, Deidara explaining, "Can you tell us if the guy you saw is in one of these pictures?"

Brown eyes danced between them and then down to the object in his hands. He began looking at them closely, though it seemed he badly did not want to, "So what if I can? Then what?"

"Hinata here might be able to identify them, so we'll know who we're dealing with."

He nodded slowly, flipping through the stack of photos with a frown, "Gotcha. These photos are blurry as hell, though."

"Please, just do your best. It's alright if you can't narrow it down to just one person," Hinata offered politely, smiling when he looked her way.

The corners of his lips twitched into a smirk, but he set the pictures aside and tilted his head, "Where are my manners? You guys want something to drink? Be right back."

"N-No, it's fine. You don't have to-" The door to the office closed before the girl could finish her sentence. She and Deidara shared a look.

She whispered, "Is he always like this?"

"More or less. I think he's bipolar."

So, they waited for his return. Hinata texted Hidan, letting him know things were going fine since he couldn't enter the building undetected, and he responded with an order to kick Deidara in the balls if he got too handsy.

"Sorry. All we've got is water and beer. Figured you wouldn't want a buzz this early," Kankuro suddenly burst back into the room, handing each of the guests a bottle of water before sitting on the edge of the desk and picking the photos back up, "Now where were we…?"

"If you could, just circle anyone who looks close to the man you met," Deidara said, handing him a red pen from the cup sitting atop the nearest filing cabinet.

The Subaku man chatted casually with the blonde as he did just that, Hinata piping in occasionally when needed. Maybe fifteen minutes later, he handed over the photos with a sheepish grin, "Sorry I wasn't able to narrow it down more. I hope this helps."

She looked at the one on top to see that three different faces had been circled, 'This might be harder than we expected.' Still, she smiled while placing the pictures back into her purse, "We really appreciate it. Thank you."

Deidara grabbed her hand, grinning at the shopkeeper, "Let me know next time you're on our side of town. We'll have a party."

Kankuro's demeanor went from relaxed to slightly nervous, and he stood. When he smiled, it wasn't natural-looking, but he sounded the same as before, "You don't wanna get some lunch while you're here? I know a great place nearby. It's a hole-in-the-wall, but you'll never find better sushi."

'How uncomfortable,' Hinata frowned, pitying the poor guy, 'He must really like Deidara if he's trying this hard even though he knows he has a boyfriend.'

Before either could respond to the invitation, the earsplitting sound of gunfire met the air, and all three persons dropped to the ground in an attempt to not be shot. Hinata covered her ears, looking at Deidara with wide eyes for instruction. She was told that no matter what happens, to do what he says. He put a hand atop her head to keep it down while pulling his gun from beneath his shirt.

Kankuro cursed loudly, having been shot in the shoulder, "Fuck!"

"What's going on!" The blonde asked, carefully inching closer to the man to inspect the wound.

The door flew open, and Gaara nodded toward the hallway, "We need to leave. There are too many."

Gunshots still rang through the air, but if they stayed put, there'd be no escaping, so they had to risk it. Deidara hissed as they rushed toward the last door in the hall, "Hina, get out even if we get separated. I can take care of myself."

She shook her head, trembling in fear as they descended the metal emergency stairs down to the alleyway ground, "I-I won't leave you!"

Tires squealed at the closer end of the alleyway, and the four took off in the opposite direction. It was too dangerous to keep arguing, so no one spoke.

'Where is Hidan? Who is shooting at us? Is it the Hyuuga man Kankuro told us about? Is it Usotsuki?'

A sudden cry of pain met the panicking woman's ear, followed by a thud, and she turned her head to see Deidara facedown. The air in her lungs disappeared as she skidded to a stop, "D-Dei!"

Kankuro hurried to kneel by the downed man, lifting his arm over his shoulders to hoist him up while yelling at her and Gaara, "Keep going! I've got-!" One bullet hit the man in the back, and then another, and then the older Subaku brother fell lifelessly to the ground.

Wildfire terror froze Hinata for a moment before tears blurred her vision, and she began rushing toward them, 'Deidara isn't dead! He can't be!' In reality, she had no idea where he was shot. He wasn't moving, and things were too hectic to confirm whether or not he was breathing.

A hand wrapped around her wrist, and she looked to see Gaara. He pulled roughly, nearly making her fall as bullets continued to whiz past. Three masked men had stepped out of the car at the end of the alleyway and were making their way toward them, all while shooting.

Hinata shook her head, "No! I won't leave him!" The redhead's glare danced from her to his murdered brother, to the shooters approaching, and back before he growled, picked her up over his shoulder, and continued running.

Sobbing, the timid woman hit his back, all while trying to lift her body enough to look behind them, "Put me down! He'll die!"

As soon as they turned the corner out of the alley, a massive force hit them. Then, everything went black.

When Hinata next woke, she was unbelievably sore. Her entire body felt like it was bruised, but the pounding in her head and the area where her gunshot wound was still healing were the worst. Kisame had warned her that reckless physical activity could revert the muscles healing there.

Trying and failing not to cry, she whispered, "D-Deidara?" She didn't want to alert her captors that she'd woken, but also needed to know if her friend survived.

"Hina…."

'It's him! He's alive!'

The man's voice was gravely and tired.

She sobbed, feeling that her wrists were tied together behind her back. Something was across her eyes so that she couldn't see. "Where are you hit? Are you okay?"

"My leg. I think I hit my head when I fell." He paused, "They took Gaara a little bit ago. …Do you know what happened to Kankuro? Did they get him, too?"

Hinata's sobs quieted as she recalled the selfless way the man in question had tried to save him, "N-No, he….h-he…." A sad sound, barely audible, met her ears, and she realized it was Deidara either crying or trying very hard not to.

For a couple of minutes, neither said a word. Then, the blonde man seemed to gather himself and took a deep breath, "Here's the plan. I have a knife tucked into my sock. I can feel they didn't take it."

'...He's not about to say what I think he is, is he?'

"Cut yourself free and escape. Don't look back, no matter what."

"No, I can't-" "I can't walk right now, Hina. You have to leave me here." His voice was becoming gradually closer, as was the sound of his movements.

When she felt something solid hit the back of her hands, she felt her way around to identify it as his sneaker. Trembling with fear and grief, the woman struggled to retrieve the hidden weapon. The ropes were digging into her wrists.

'Got it!'

She cut her wrists loose, then removed the blindfold to see they were in a dark, empty room. Deidara was blindfolded, too, and her chest tightened at his pale skin and bloody clothing. She knelt to cup his face in her hands, pulling the cloth down so they could see one another.

Tears wetted his pretty blue eyes, but his gaze was firm as he repeated himself, "Go! Get help. You have to hurry. Take the knife. You'll need it if you run into anyone."

Sobbing, the girl nodded, kissing his head before tilting hers, voice cracking emotionally, "I'll come back for you. I swear it." Then, she replaced the blindfold and looked around.

Judging by the room's appearance, they were in an abandoned house somewhere. The walls were littered with graffiti, and the windows were broken and shattered. 'They probably figured we'd cut ourselves too much on the broken glass to escape.'

When she thought about using other escape routes, she had no choice but to risk the injuries because there was no telling what or who awaited them outside that room. On the contrary, she can see a streetlight in the distance out the window, within running distance.

Carefully, Hinata crouched and attempted to climb onto the ledge without touching the sharp glass shards. It wasn't wholly successful, as her palm and feet received various cuts. She was outside, though. With her lower abdomen stinging and throbbing in pain, the Hyuuga woman crept her way forward, eyes wide and alert, searching the dark yard for movement.

'Do they not have anyone keeping watch? It seems a little unorganized if that's-!' As though reading her thoughts, someone yelled, "Hey! Get back here!" from behind her. Looking over her shoulder, Hinata gasped when she saw a masked figure begin sprinting toward her from where they'd been walking around the side of the house.

She ran. She tried, but the fresh cuts on her feet made it unbearable.

Unsurprisingly, the woman was tackled to the ground. The pair wrestled for dominance, the knife being knocked from her grasp into the grass nearby.

"G-Get off of me!" She growled, trying to catch the masked man's hands with her own so he couldn't land a hit.

He didn't say a word. Instead, he grasped one of her wrists and pinned it to the ground. With his other hand, he choked her.

A desperate heat met Hinata's face as she struggled to breathe, 'Why's he squeezing so hard? Is he trying to kill me? If they want me dead, how come tied me up like that, then?'

Adrenaline fueled the woman's body, and she ripped her wrist free, clawing at his hand at her neck. Terrible choking sounds escaped her lips. The man gave up trying to hold her down and used both hands to asphyxiate her.

'I'm going to die! I'll really die! Do something!'

As though moving independently from her mind, one of her hands reached over to search the grass for the forgotten knife. When she found it, there wasn't a moment of hesitation. Hinata stabbed the man in the neck, coughing and gasping for air when his grip around her throat loosened.

Hot blood splashed over her upper body, the metallic taste meeting her tongue and making bile rise in her throat. Audible whines of pain accented each heavy pant of breath as Hinata shoved the dead man off of her, pulling the knife from his neck.

It felt like her mind was swirling with lightning-encrusted storm clouds. No thoughts were straight, yet she somehow was sound enough to remember to unmask the attacker. When she pushed the mask up, she gritted her teeth to prevent a loud cry of disbelief.

Ko.

It was Ko Hyuuga who tried to kill her.

It was Ko Hyuuga that she just murdered.